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LIFE OF 

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One hundred years 
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Slave; forty-six years 
a Free Man; the Old- 
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FROM SLAVE TO PATRIARCH 



The Life of a Darky of the Old South 



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The Life Historv of a Darky of the Old South. 

N Deirmber 25. 1811, Aloxaiuler Micklrs was born in 
Kichland Uislrict. S. C, <>nc hundred and ten miles 
north of Charleston. His father and mother were slaves 
owned by .1 T Mickles, a eommission merehant and 
captain in the Mexiean War. After the war he eame t.. Mobile. 
Ala leaving Aleck, his father and mother in N.uth Caiolma, 
where Aleck's father was employed at the rate of twenty six 
d..llars a month, haulin- stone rock to build the state house. J. 
T Mickles collected and used the money earn(>d In" his slaves, 
Meck's father and mother had live childr.Mi. three -iris and two 
bovs His mother found emi^loyment in a brick yard lor AlecU 
and his brother. Isaac, for twenty-live cents a day and ten <rnts 
for odd jobs at ni^ht. The girls and mother took in washing and 
ironing, which all went to the mother. The boys worked in the 
brick-yard live years. .Meck's mother did so well they were 
often called free negroes. 

The lirsi railroad built in South Carolina extended from 
Charleston to Augusta. Ca.. one hundred and ten miles; it was 
built of hewn timbers, strapped with bars of iron for rails. Wrecks 
were frequent, caused from the in.n bars working loose from the 
wood. 

When \leck was about sixlecMi \cars old his father asked, 
bv letter if he and his famil>- could come to Mobile, Ala., where 
their master was. Mr. Mickles agreed to this, and the long, 
wearisome journev was begun at once, coming by railway to 
Montgomery. Ala., where a boat was secured to Mobile. 

After landing Aleck was given to Joseph Mickles, Jr., son of 
J T Mickles. Aleck was engaged five years in steam-boat labor, 
on a run from Regules, La., to Montgomery, Ala. For this 
labor Aleck's master received twenty-six dollars a month, ana 



— 2— 

Aleck received pay for Sundays and over-lime, which was the 
rule in those days. Aleck often made as mucii money for him- 
self as he did for his master. Other slaves made nothing, and 
have long since passed awa\-. while Aleck still survives. 

Aleck is noted, not only as a faithful slave but a life saver. 
On one trip up the Alabama river, between the Upper Peach 
tree and the Lower Peach-tree, the Eliza Battle, at about ten 
o'clock at night took fire. It Avas a cold January night and the 
river was overflowed, being two miles wide, or more. This boat 
carried about three hundred passengers, a crew of fifty labor- 
ing men and nearly two thousand bales of cotton. More than 
forty li\es were lost. A shot was fired on four men who were 
escaping with a life boat. This was a frightful scene; men, women 
and children screaming, flames of fire leaping and roaring, while 
the bales of cotton for several minutes were tumbling into the 
water. Some of the stronger ones swam to shore: others clung 
to bales of cotton, a few stood all night in shallow places in the 
water; others climbed trees and hung on until iluy were taken 
down the next day nearly frozen. Aleck lied two bales of cot- 
ton together, rescued a gentleman who was swimming with his 
daughter on his back. Aleck placed them on the cotton, re^ 
moved his coats, robed the \-oung lady in them, which saved her 
from freezing, while Meek himself stood all night in the water 
up to his neck to sa\ e his life. On returning to Mobile the gen- 
tleman presented Aleck with fifty dollars. Th(> rescue boat 
arrived about eleven o'clock ne.xt day, just in time to save many 
lives, for it was still freezing cold; icicles more than a foot long 
were hanging on trees. 

In those da}'s Aleck was a giant in strength. He could 
handle a bale of cotton as easily alone, as four ordinary men 
could. In loading cotton in a boat, it was often one hundred 
and seventy live feet from the wharf to the blufV. Aleck could 
stop a bale, hook and tip it on his toe, and slide it to its place 
with ease. He could, also, take two hooks, place a bale of cotton, 
weighing five hundred and fifty pounds on his shoulders, and 
trot forty steps. 

When Aleck came to Mobile it was only a small village. 
Dauphin Street was about one-half mile long. He earned S5.00 
a month in South Carolina, and the first month in Mobile he 



(.arncd -ST.Od and declared it the best country in the world. 
Common labor was carried on by slaves and Dagoes. In 
Mobile, slaves could walk over town until 9 o'clock p. m. After 
nine all caught were locked up until next morning and the master 
must pay 81.00 to redeem the slave; on refusing to do so the 
slave was punisiied by thirty nine lashes being given. 

Mobile was a thriving town, the price of labor being 20c 
and 2r)c an hour; numbers of free negroes lived here at this time. 
The M. & (). was the lirst railroad built from Mobile, and was 
likewise the first railroad built in Mississippi. 

In those days steamboat labor was very severe. A slave's 
daily ration was a pound of meat a day and bread and vege- 
tables in i)roporti(jn. Those wh(j could not consume the ration 
were sent back home. Aleck could consume a pound of meat 
daily and many times at one meal. He was given as much as 
he wanted to eat. 

Lea\ ing the boat Aleck was sent to work under a man by 
the name of I. \). Dunevin, eleven miles north of Mobile. Aleck 
earned 5()c e\ery Saturday night and chopj)ed ties on Sunday, 
which netted him about 82.00 a month. He was engaged in 
driving a team for Dunevin, hauling ties. His mules were al- 
ways in fine condition. 

Aleck's occupation prevented him from having but little 
dealings with the Indians. What he learned was that the In- 
dians were an enemy to the negroes. They would watch the 
fields and camps of slaves to steal the babies and carry them 
away or scalp them. The Indian is a cunning warrior. He 
would hide by the roadside, climb a tree or get in a hollow stump, 
gobble like a turkey that would decieve the white man as well 
as the negro, and then would kill his man. 

The treatment of slaves depended altogether on the pro- 
prietor. Some were very cruel, while others were liberal enough 
with their slaves. Aleck's master was not a farmer, therefore, 
Aleck did not know much about the treatment of slaves on the 
farms. Generally, the man who owned about a thousand negroes 
was kind enough. Colonel AVade Hampton, of Columbia, S. C.» 
owned a thousand slaves, and always treated them as humans; 
but a man who owned five or six was harder on them, and a man 



— 4— 

who owned onl}- a man or woman was really cruel to them. I 
want you to' bear in mind, it all depended on the foreman, or 
the owner, and the negro slave. 

A week's ration for an adult on an average was a peck of 
meal, four pounds of meat, and one quart of molasses, two blankets 
which were given on Christmas, other bedding was made b\- the 
negro at leisure time. The houses, too, depended on the cir- 
cumstances of the owner, none were uncomfortable; every man 
had a pest house and when a slave got sick he was quickly re- 
moved to the i)est-housc and a doctor was called at once. 

When Aleck was a small boy the sla\ es were given two days, 
later one day a year, and it was onl\- a few years before the\' 
were given freedom that they had Sundays allowed. 

The industrious negroes cultivated patches on these days, 
of corn and cotton, or anything they wished. Slaves were given 
two suits a year, a spring and a winter suit, with one pair of 
shoes a year. They were allowed to own pr()i)ert>-. such as horses, 
cows, hogs and chickens but were not allowed lire arms, nor 
were they allowed to buy whiskey excej)! with an order from the 
master. They could go hunting, if the slave was known to be 
trustworthy; the\- were not forced to go to church, but they 
usually did go. The minister i)reached at eleven o'clock in the 
morning to the while pe()i)le and at three in the afternoon to the 
negroes out under a brush shed built by the side of the church. 

The energetic slaves often got credit until fall. On the lirst 
day of January slaves were bartered or sold; a negro could be 
employed by his owner to aiiolher man, or "hired out." This 
was done at the court-house. The slaves were carried there 
and the highest bidder got the sla\e for one year. Usually $2(i 
on the railroad and steamboat, and 812 to 815 in a saw mill, 
with 810 to 812 on the farm was bid. ■ Slaves were sold to the 
highest bidder. Children were sold at one year old, and often 
a mother would be sold away from her one-year-old baby; at 
one year they brought 8500 to 8800; at two years, 8400 to 81,000; 
other ages, in proportion; girls from 12 years to 18, 81,100 to 
82,000; men, scape galleys, 8800 to 8900; good men, 81,800 to 
83,000; boys, 12 to 20, 81.200 to 82.000. Slaves, on being sold. 



could sometimes ^d or were allowed to select their master. 
Boys and <j;irls were at liberty to court on Sunday, and 
were taught how and what to say b\- the white boys and girls 
on the plantation. When a boy wished to marry, he first got the 
girl's conseiU. then he obtained a recommendation from his 
master, which he carried to the girls' mistress; if siie agreed, it 
was carried to the girl's master and if he didn't (>l)jecl. a day 
was set, ft line sui)i)er was prepared, the pastor was sunnnoned 
who read llie ceremony from the Bible and i)r()n()unce(l them 
married. If they li\ed on the same i)lantalion they lived to- 
gether, but if tlie man was on one farm, the woman on another, 
each remained on his master's place; the man was allowed to 
go to see his wife once a week, generally. Sometimes a master 
would buy a man's wife and bring her on his farm, so the two 
could live together. 

\Vhij)i)ing was the i)unishment intlicted for various oll'ences, 
on both men and women, and at various places. Women as well 
as men were whipi)ed in the fields, between cotton rows. Two 
hundred and fift\- pounds of cotton was a day's task for an adult. 
I'ailing to gel this, he or she was whipped. When a slave refused 
to be whipped, a day was set, eight or ten white men invited 
to come, a gallon of whiskey and a i)lug of tobacco procured; 
the negro was sent for, but as he usually refused to obey the call, 
the men would go down into the field and all proceed to fight 
the negi'o; of course, they conquered the slave, and then all of 
them e.xcept the negro would drink some of the whiskey, then 
the first man walks up to the negro who is tied up and beats 
him luitil he tires; all of the others do likewise and then the 
slave's master bores a hole through the plug of tobacco, puts 
a cord through the hole, lies it around his neck, takes the whip 
and stei)s tip to the negro and says in a loud voice, "I have come 
to stay as long as this plug of tabocco lasts." With this he takes 
a big chew and with all his power strikes the negro four or i'wc 
blows with the whip. Then he chews the tobacco, rests a short 
while, strikes several more blows; and he keeps this tip until 
the 1)1 ug of tobacco is chewed up, taking one big chew after 
another. The negro is left tied and another slave is ordered to 
make a water bucket full of very strong salty brine, which he 
takes and with a mop washes and re washes the slashed and 



— 6— 

bruised negro until his entire bare bod}' is covered witli salt. 
It may be that this negro will not need another whipping for two 
years. It is understood that the disposition of master and 
slave caused severe punishment or an easy life. Obedience is 
and was the best policy, ^fany slaves were never whipped at all. 

Aleck witnessed all these sights and hardships, but he says 
he sees but one dilference in being under bondage and free, that 
is a free negro can go without a permit, while a slave had to have 
one from his master. 

In Aleck's early life the white people made all their clothes 
at home, rich and poor. The farmers were up at 4 o'clock in 
the morning at work; boys ploughed two hours before school- 
time and two hours when they returned home in the evenings. 
The men in those days wore their hair over their shoulders. If 
one happened to the misfortune to go to the penitentiary, on 
leaving the pen one side of the head was shaved. This is no 
doubt the origin of cutting the hair so close. In those days the 
towns had no barber shops. The bo\'s and girls were economical 
in dress, plain and neat, but in the fashion of the day. 

In Columbus, S. C, was located one of the largest colleges 
of the times. The daily attendance was about 400. It was well 
equipped for the times. Twelve was the limit of a room, it was 
called "tenement," and one negro had twelve students or one 
tenement to keep in order. The beds were to be straightened, 
the floors swept, wood and water put into the room, and the 
shoes were to be blacked. Students had to rise at 5 a. m., go 
to chapel service, eat breakfast at 7 a. m., and then prepare for 
regular work which began a 8 a. m. Colonel Davis (Iladnier 
was proprietor of the boarding-house, as it was called. Aleck 
was put to keep one of the tenements in order and gave satis- 
faction. Oftentimes a negro was taught to read and write 
by the students while he was in their room. And when a negro 
happened to fall into the hands of a good master he or she was 
often taught to read or \mte, and they were frequently carried 
to Sunda\' School where they learned the letters from their 
master or mistress. This, too, depended on both the negro's and 
liis master's disposition. The general trend of dispositions of 
both white people and blacks has not changed much since the war. 



Aleck was sent to labor as a section-hand on the M. & 0., 
at Citronelle, Ahi., where lie worked for six months, and then on 
the (i;rade near the state line and Buekatunna, Miss. A rush 
was made to complete the road to State Line by the 4th of July 
and as this was accomplished a big barbecue was given. Aleck 
sta\ed on the grade about one year and then he went back to a 
steamboat, and then to the M. & ().. hauling ties, where he re- 
mained more than twent> years. Here is where he met Captain 
Rich for the first time. 

Aleck married Dall'ne, who made him hapi)y in her young 
and (Md age. She was uneducated, but was an excellent cook, 
and was often employed by wealthy people in Mobile, in Hat- 
tiesburg and man>' other places. She was very kind and at 
every place she worked gave satisfaction, never having angry 
words with any one. Aleck and DalVnc lived together, happily, 
for many years, until her death. 

When the war broke out Aleck lived at State Line, ^^iss., 
laboring for 1. I). Dunevin, emjiloyed by his master. .Ml those 
years Aleck stayed at home and worked, while other slaves 
Ioaf(Hl about the farm and over the woods. When the masters 
left the farms the women were unable to control all the negroes. 
White |)eo|)le who contiiuied to work during the war lived fairly 
well, while those who did not, allowed their farms to go to WTCck 
and much poverty prevailed. 

A cerlain amount of (>\(M\lhing raised on the farm went 
to the army during the war. Women often made clothes, blan- 
kets, etc.. and sent to ihe soldiers. Sometimes they parched 
corn, ground it into meal and sent it to their husbands, fathers 
and friends, .\egroes freriuently escaped to the IVdcral army 
and would loaf around their camps. And when freedom was 
given them they refused to stay on the farm but went to the 
towns and as they could not all obtain work they moved from 
place to place. They were promised a mule and forty acres of 
land, supposed to be given by the master. 

Coffee sold for SKI a j^ound. salt for S75 a sack, and every- 
tliing else in proportion, in Confederate money. The third year 
of the war the U. S. Cavalry often raided the negro quarters and 
carried all the negroes captured to the salts works; those who 



— 8— 

escaped were captured by blood-hounds, the owner of the hounds 
receiving 825.00 for his services. Frequently the cattle was 
found in the woods and killed for beef by the Federals. 

When Aleck heard the surrender read he happened to be 
with his father and mother at John Hugh Perkins, Rawhide, 
Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, ten miles south of the present 
city of Starkville, Miss. His father's family now numbered 
eleven. On the farm were eleven other negroes who left and 
went into town, while Aleck,. his father and his father's family, 
stayed and made a crop, and each received for his part when 
the crop was sold. 850.00. Aleck recei\ ed 875.00. 

Ike Kinnon who was a former slave on Perkin's farm, went 
to town to live easy and happy. He heard of the mule and 
land the U. S. (Government was going to take from his master 
and give to him. He paid 810.00 to an ofhc(>r who claimed to 
be a land agent and in return received a strip of paper that read, 
"Let Ike have a nuile and 10 acres of land where he wants it." 
Ike wore a beaver hat which had been in use for ten years or more, 
a ragged coat and pants, a pair of brogan shoes badly worn and 
full of holes. No doubt, he had e.Npected some trouble, for he 
had stuHed his shoes with wild onions and was chewing a big 
mouthful, and spitting spitefully towards Mr. Perkins, when lie 
came up to him to i)resent the oriler. \fr. Perkins ordered him to 
halt but he came on until within a few feet of Mr. Perkins, when 
Mr. Perkins put 15 buck shot in his throat. Ike fell on his face 
dead. A boy brought the news to Aleck who was jjlowing in 
the field. He called the other negroes, and all went to see dead 
Ike. In this country at that time colVns were few and boards 
liard to make. Lucky Aleck found four or live boards which 
were about one and a half feet too short, but which w^ere used 
anyway for making the casket. It was a dry season and the 
lime rock was hard, so digging the gi-ave caused much toil, but 
a hole about two feet deep was chopped out and the murdered 
corpse was placed in a rickety one-horse cart and carried to the 
grave. He was placed in the coffin and grave, which was all 
too short. Aleck found that he could make it lit though by 
setting his knees up, placing some boards by them on one side 
the body was covered with two boards which formed the shape 
of the grave, a little dirt was placed on the boards, which with 



I lie boards niado a noal looking j.^rave. It was more than four 
nionlhs before the knees dropped down "^and leftthe grave level. 

This is only one of thousands of similar incidents which 
happened during the reign of the Freedman's Bureau. 

After the crojjs were sold and each received his pay, Aleck 
made his way back to Cai)lain Rich at State Line, where he 
wcnl into the tie and wood business for Capt. Rich. He labored 
at this until the engines began to burn coal. 

Sam Hooks oi^ened up a turpentine plant at Stale Line. 
Miss., and Aleck found employment in this business at once. 
At this time, 75 bo.xes was an average day's work, but the first 
day Aleck wi^rked he choj)ped 75 in half a da.w He had never 
seen or worked at it before, either. After some experience and 
practice in ihc art of chopping, he easily made 75 in one hour. 
The price of a box was one and a half cents. Three barrels was 
the average rate of di|)ping. Aleck learned the trade of tur- 
pentining and worked faithfully at it. He rented .some timber, 
choi)ped the boxes. chiiJix'd the trees, and dip the crude from 
the boxes. He would often lake his oxen and wagon to the 
woods, which was four miles from his camp, dip nine barrels of 
crude, load on his wagon, and return, unload before night, after 
having left his cam|) after sunrise in the morning. I'letcher 
Hook and Smith Malone. both business men. know these to be 
facts. Aleck is a small man. his average weight being 175 tt:)S., 
but has never been excelled in any kind of maiuial labor, by 
either white of black. At the age of 80 he picked uj) a pair of 
iron trucks with his hands; the trucks weighed 5(I0 ll'S., and no 
other man ever moved them. 

While i)lowing one day for .1. 1). Perkins, one year after the 
war. he struck a horse that weighed about 85(1 pounds on the 
head with his lirsi; the horse tumbled into a ditch and could 
not get up. Aleck looked for help, seeing none, he picked the 
horse uj) b\- the shoulders and lifted him out. This was wit- 
nessed by .]. 1). Perkins who laughed heartily at the sight from 
his hiding place in the bushes near by. 

On one occasion, for Abner Gains, State Line, Miss., he 
split 1,500 yellow pine rails, hauled them on an ox-wagon a short 
distance and made a fence of them. He began Monday morning 



— 1®— 

and finished at thr^e o'clock Thursday. The limber had been 
culled for more than 11 years. The average rail-splitter will 
do well to get 250 a day. 

Before the war all timber cut was with an ax; stock logs 
were cut for 10c a log. The average chopping of a day was 25 
logs, and Aleck has cut 75 logs with an ax in one day, the logs 
about 25 feet long and none less than 17 inches at top. Five or 
six years after the war cross-cut saws were introduced. The first 
was the Lightning Simon, with a blade about 1 inches wide, later 
the Avider blades came into use. 

One day Aleck needed some money for a party. He went 
to I. Z. Grissom of State Line who employed him to chop stock 
logs; Aleck began at 8 o'clock in the morning and just at 12 he 
had cut 75 logs, 25 feet long and not less than 17 inches at top. 

Aleck's wife was cooking for Colonel (lains before and dur- 
ing the war. \Vlien freed, she remained on there for three years. 
Aleck came and went to visit her often. While working on the 
railroad among other negroes he was exposed to small-pox. Col. 
Gains forbade his coming on his premises until he was safe from 
an attack. This displeased Aleck and he moved Dalfne from 
Gain's to an old still iiouse. It was a week before Col. Gains 
found them. Aleck and his wife and three children were invited 
to make their home back at (jain's imt Aleck refused and with 
the Colonel's assistance built a log cabin where he moved his 
family at once and began life anew. 

One Sunday morning Aleck walked over to his sister's who 
lived near him, and while he was there a hurricane blew the roof 
ofi the shanty, turned over the i)ots, etc., but no one was hurt. 
Aleck had told his brother in-law that his house was in an old 
storm line; this convinced him and he moved his house. 

Aleck li\ ed in his own log cabin happily, work in wood, ties 
and turpentine for several years. About this time the X. 0. 
& N. E. Railroad was being built. A man from Georgia had the 
contract for ties. This man's men could not work small timber. 
Mr. C. W. Rich, son of Capt. Rich, came to the "new road" as 
it was called, to contract for ties. Mr. Rich foimd it difficult 
to get the negroes to come on the new road unless Big Aleck 
would come. Aleck was dipping turpentine at the time and 



—11— 

maUin<^ S4.00 a day. Finally he consented to come. They 
left State Line and went to Sliubuta on the train, then all shoul- 
dered their tools, bedding, etc., and started on foot for a place 
known as 1-^retta, Miss., where they chopped ties for three months; 
then to where the historic town on Purvis now stands; here 
Aleck chopped three months and returned home, walking with 
two others a distance of 85 miles. Roads were few and the 
journey was ditficult. Regardless of all this the trip was made 
in a remarkably short time. They left Purvis one Sunday 
morning at 12 o'clock, and Monday afternoon at 4 o'clock they 
were at Jones' I'erry, 4 miles from Slate Line. 

Aleck spent one year dipping turpentine in State Line, after 
returning from the new road (the N. 0. & N. E.) 

The steel rails liad been laid on the N. 0. and N. E. about 
one year and business was opening uj). C. W. Rich had pro- 
cured a location for the manufacturing of naval stores and a 
saw mill plant at a plactv known then as Carter's Switch, 6 miles 
south of the present city of Hattiesburg. It later became known 
as Richburg, where the Sullivan and Killrain battle was fought. 
Aleck was ever ready to fijllow his faithful master, C. W. 
Rich. He jiacked his household goods, was on the move to the 
new road, and the first man landed there to labor for C. W. Rich 
was .Vleck. 

Before Aleck came to Richburg he worked three months on 
Brown's cut about 40 miles north of Meridian. Aleck and his 
brother worked 7 days in a week. When paid off they returned 
home. Meridian was at that time but a small towii, not over 
ten small stores and other business in proportion. 

The first thing Aleck did was to locate a cemetery. He and 
UalVne located the one now used in Richburg. One year after 
this, a man was killed. C. W. Rich came to Aleck and said, 
"Aleck, we have a dead man, where will we bury him? We have 
no grave-yard." Aleck said, "I picked out one the ne.xt day after 
I came here," and when Capt. Rich went to the place and saw 
Aleck's selection, he said "this is the finest grave-yard in the 
world," and he is about right. 

The first work Aleck did after landing in Richburg was re- 
pairing and building houses; next was chopping turpentine 



— Un- 
boxes. When dipping season came, he would take the dipping 
crew out. The price of lilHng a barrel was 'M)c. Aleck had 
several children and with his labor all made a good living. He 
followed this occupation for several years. Aleck always paid 
Ills debts and could get credit anywhere he was laiown. 

One Saturday evening, in Hichburg, while in a drinking stand, 
down in the quarters, Aleck had drunk too much and with three 
others they had a bloody hght in which iVleck received a blow 
on the head with brass knucks and also a stab in the side. From 
3 o'clock in the afternoon until 5 in the morning on Sunday Aleck 
lay pronounced dead. He had to sta\- in bed two weeks, at 
the point of deatli, but by close attention he recovered. 

Aleck homesteaded one and half miles norlh of Hichburg, 
where he built a small house and cleared a farm. He labored 
in the turpentine and timber until his sight failed him in 1907. 
He is now well and can do as nuich labor as an>- man on the farm 
if he could only see. 



—13— 
INCIDENTS. 



One Saturday night, while Aleck and his sister were walking 
home on tlie railroad they were surprised to hear a star biu'st. 
The hght shone about 15 minutes and was brighter than the 
sun. This happened while Aleck was living at State Line. 

Several years before the war Halley's comet appeared. It 
rose in the evening, in the northwest, with a broad tail extending 
across the world eastward. In IHlo. it appeared again, but I 
could not see it this time. 

Aleck remembers an earthquake, while he was in South 
Carolina. It was severest in Charleston, but he was not near there. 

In V,HH) one morning he went out coon hunting about 8 
o'clock and an eclip.se of the sun eame on. It lasted for several 
hours and became so dark he lost his wa>- and didn't gel home 
until late in the afternoon. 

A year or two after the war, whiN' Aleck was living in Ok- 
tibbeha County, he saw as he was coming from a tan yard about 
9 miles from his home a train of nortliern men going west. A 
few gray-coats had fallen iii their comi)any and many negroes 
were with the Yankees. The women often threw their babies 
by the road sid(> lo die. He saw several that had been so left. 
Farther on he met an army of squirrels migi'ating to the west. 
They were fox. gray and even some black s(iuirrels. it was a 
strange sight, he says, for they ne\('r lunied for aii,\lliing, nor 
were they wild; they climbed over fences, through lields and even 
over wagons that had slopp(>d in the roadway. Many were killed 
by wagons rolling over them. 

A short time before the war the deer was struck by the 
black tongue. Aleck says he often saw 8 to 10 deer dead in 
one place. Nearly all the deer in the country died from this 
disease. 

The next night after the birth of C. W. Rich, the home of 
Captain Rich caught fire. Aleck was sleeping in a cabin near by. 
Waking and seeing the house on fire he ran in and went to Mrs, 
Rich's room, grabbed her. baby and bed and carried them to 
his cabin. He hurried back for the other members of the family, 
and just as the last one of them had gotten out down came the 
roof in a flame of fire. 



AUG n 1911 



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